Vaccinating the population of the United States is quite an enterprise. The media has recounted the problems of extreme cold logistics and getting the vaccine from manufacturers to health care workers, along with the delays in the roll-out. But those problems are far more easily solved than the trip from vial to arm.

It has long been known that different people react differently to opioid drugs, and by a wide margin. This means that the same dose may be too high for one person and too low for another. The difference can be due to genetic differences in metabolism. Can science be used to determine not only the dose but also the best opioid for an individual?

Can there be winners as well as losers as our climate changes? The truth about science. Is our ability to read some type of repurposed evolutionary skill?

Though we spent about nine months of the year focused almost exclusively on COVID, we did find time to debunk pseudoscientific nonsense. Here are the top 10 junk science and bogus health claims we debunked in 2020.

The answer is yes if you believe a paper recently published in the British Medical Journal. The article gives data mining for results a bad name. It is more like data dredging – scooping out mud and trash. Not to worry, no patients were harmed in this study, although the popular media couldn't help but report on this new reason to fear surgery and surgeons.

The FBI is investigating whether the Nashville bomber was motivated by 5G paranoia. Unfortunately, the media has been helping feed these conspiracy theories. Are we heading into a new era of anti-technology terrorism?

It's no secret that NSAIDs come with a host of side effects. But how often? And how bad are they? A presentation at the 2020 PAINWeek Conference gives us some numbers. If taken at face value they are horrifying.

“… what if a DNA test could provide you with a personalized blueprint to how food affects YOUR body? … How can you eat the best food for your body? It’s all about eating for your genes.” Can all this be true?

In the United States, we live in an affluent culture whose standard of living is high compared to other nations. Yet, we fail to be grateful for the advances in food science and biotechnology we benefit from, which frees us from the day-to-day task of our food production. One of the major phobias consumers struggle with is related to pesticides.

One of the several questions I hear is, "Where is the excess mortality from COVID-19?" Those numbers may be starting to come into view, but let us consider another death from COVID-19, the loss of small businesses.